Leighton Cubbage Sells 500 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total value of $31,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,600 shares in the company, valued at $2,926,014. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

SFST stock opened at $63.68 on Friday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.90 and a twelve month high of $65.09. The firm has a market cap of $602.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on SFST shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares is the bank holding company for Southern First Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company delivers a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individual customers. Southern First Bancshares operates under a relationship-driven model, emphasizing personalized service and local decision–making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside an array of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, equipment financing and small business administration (SBA) loans.